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Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood
In this humorous coming-of-age story, Bridget Flagherty, a student at St. Michael’s Catholic school outside Boston in the 60s and 70s, takes refuge in her wacky misunderstandings of Bible Stories and Catholic beliefs to avoid the problems of her Irish/Italian family life. Her musings on sadistic nuns, domestic violence, emerging sexuality, and God the Father’s romantic life will delight readers.
Bridget creates glorious supernatural worlds—with exorcisms, bird relics, Virgin Martyrs, time travel, Biblical plagues, even the ‘holy’ in holy water—to cope with a family where leather handbags and even garlic can cause explosions.
An avid Bible reader who innocently believes everything the nuns tell her, Bridget’s saints, martyrs, and boney Christs become alive and audible within her. While the nuns chide her sinful ‘mathematical pride’ and slow eating habits, God answers her prayers instantly by day, but the devil visits nightly in the dark. Scenes run the gamut from laugh-out-loud Catholic brainwashing of children, to heart-wrenching abuse, to riveting teenage excursions toward sex.
Young Bridget tries to make sense of a world of raging men and domestically subjugated women and carve a future for herself, wrestling with how God and men treat women. Her Italian female relatives—glamorous Santa Anna, black-and-blue Aunt Maria, sophisticated Eleanor with a New York ‘Fellini pageboy’—offer sensual alternatives to the repression of her immediate family. She prays fervently that “despite God’s bizarre treatment of married women... some [girls] might still discover ways to have a great time without being a nun.”
Dodging Satan is the flip-side of l'Histoire d'une Âme by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux authored by a twentieth century American girl chomping on a blue-gum cigar while she talks to a confidant about God and sex.
Bridget creates glorious supernatural worlds—with exorcisms, bird relics, Virgin Martyrs, time travel, Biblical plagues, even the ‘holy’ in holy water—to cope with a family where leather handbags and even garlic can cause explosions.
An avid Bible reader who innocently believes everything the nuns tell her, Bridget’s saints, martyrs, and boney Christs become alive and audible within her. While the nuns chide her sinful ‘mathematical pride’ and slow eating habits, God answers her prayers instantly by day, but the devil visits nightly in the dark. Scenes run the gamut from laugh-out-loud Catholic brainwashing of children, to heart-wrenching abuse, to riveting teenage excursions toward sex.
Young Bridget tries to make sense of a world of raging men and domestically subjugated women and carve a future for herself, wrestling with how God and men treat women. Her Italian female relatives—glamorous Santa Anna, black-and-blue Aunt Maria, sophisticated Eleanor with a New York ‘Fellini pageboy’—offer sensual alternatives to the repression of her immediate family. She prays fervently that “despite God’s bizarre treatment of married women... some [girls] might still discover ways to have a great time without being a nun.”
Dodging Satan is the flip-side of l'Histoire d'une Âme by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux authored by a twentieth century American girl chomping on a blue-gum cigar while she talks to a confidant about God and sex.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 18, 2015
29 people are currently reading
14204 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Zamboni McCormick
2 books886 followersExperienced Professor with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Academic Advising, Editing, Journalism, Public Speaking, and Curriculum Development. Strong education professional with a Doctor of Philosophy - Ph.D. focused in English Language and Literature from The University of Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
August 14, 2016
The story follows the growing up of a young catholic girl – born of an Italian mother to an Irish father, she seems to struggle with the worst aspects of both cultures. The book is very well-written and draws you into Bridget’s world, which is utterly dominated by Catholicism. If she works hard and gains good results at school, she is chided for the sin of pride; if she underachieves she is wasting her God-given talents! As a teacher, I was horrified by the constant undermining that she suffered at the hands of her teachers. We are supposed to instil confidence and encourage young minds – the education Bridget receives is farcical.
The humour in the story comes from Bridget’s attempts to understand the bible; a case in point is her opinion that God was fed up with Eve because she rejected his advances and thus was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Underlying the humour are stories of marital violence played out daily among Bridget’s relations. Women are supposed to put up with the punishment meted out by drunken bullies. The story ends with Bridget affirming that she will not go down this route – feminism has raised its head by this point and she will become a modern woman, educated and strong.
The humour in the story comes from Bridget’s attempts to understand the bible; a case in point is her opinion that God was fed up with Eve because she rejected his advances and thus was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Underlying the humour are stories of marital violence played out daily among Bridget’s relations. Women are supposed to put up with the punishment meted out by drunken bullies. The story ends with Bridget affirming that she will not go down this route – feminism has raised its head by this point and she will become a modern woman, educated and strong.
December 2, 2016
Dodging Satan by Kathleen McCormick is a unique coming of age story about a girl who has to deal with an Irish side and an Italian side of her family. The two sides clash on a regular basis over any number of topics, but are both so deeply religious that they can't help but having a happy middle ground. Kathleen deals with many different issues as a catholic school girl. Some are common for girls her age, such as maturity, a wild imagination that manifests itself in the form of re-tellings of biblical stories, and puberty. However, others are much more individual such as when she was forbidden for talking about her uncles in class because her family believed they survived World War 2 because they were wearing their crucifixes. Some of the highlights of the autobiography are when Kathleen believes that God must live in her Dad's shoes because his feet kept him out of the war, or that Satan moved into her room once she had to start sleeping in a double bed instead of a crib, or the many different things her mother would say that covered domestic abuse from her young child. While the majority of the story is written in a humorous manner, there is an undertone at times that leaves the reader feeling bad for this young girl and what she had to go through. Writing with both humor and sadness successfully are both attributes that prove you have found a good writer. Nice job Kathleen.
July 26, 2016
Hilarious and sad, but a great book to read
There is someone hilarious and sad wrapped up in the one story of Dodging Satan. There is the hilarity of Bridget's innocent perspective of her faith in the points of view of her Irish and Italian family. How she believes God is glowing his spirit through her crucifix as well as her father's slippers. Or her indulgence prayer math she does to stay out of trouble during sermons. There is also her fear of Satan and her night terrors and her parents' daily arguments that are loud enough for the neighborhood to hear. It's her coming of age about her heritage, her friends, and her faith and how they all come together to make her unique. I love how she describes her way of thinking about Catholicism, women's lib, and growing up in the 60s and 70s. There are some heartbreaking moments shared, but there are also touching moments that have shaped her just as much. I chuckled in every chapter about something crazy, whether it was something a family member did or the words she used to describe it. "Relicky goodness" is definitely not a phrase you hear every day.
There is someone hilarious and sad wrapped up in the one story of Dodging Satan. There is the hilarity of Bridget's innocent perspective of her faith in the points of view of her Irish and Italian family. How she believes God is glowing his spirit through her crucifix as well as her father's slippers. Or her indulgence prayer math she does to stay out of trouble during sermons. There is also her fear of Satan and her night terrors and her parents' daily arguments that are loud enough for the neighborhood to hear. It's her coming of age about her heritage, her friends, and her faith and how they all come together to make her unique. I love how she describes her way of thinking about Catholicism, women's lib, and growing up in the 60s and 70s. There are some heartbreaking moments shared, but there are also touching moments that have shaped her just as much. I chuckled in every chapter about something crazy, whether it was something a family member did or the words she used to describe it. "Relicky goodness" is definitely not a phrase you hear every day.
August 4, 2019
Dodging Satan- what a title! Very intriguing to me even though I am not a very religious person and I have never read Christian literature. I got Kathleen McCormick’s novel as a gift and I must admit she does a great job! The author tells the story from child’s a perspective, which was unusual to me as normally the books I read are from the perspective of adults.
The book is thought-provoking, humorous, and at times tender as well. Finally a fresh, original take on religion, and about time too. Read it! You wont regret it!
The book is thought-provoking, humorous, and at times tender as well. Finally a fresh, original take on religion, and about time too. Read it! You wont regret it!
May 8, 2016
In her newly published novel, “Dodging Satan”, Kathleen Zamboni McCormick portrays her childhood growing up in the 60’s under an Italian mother and Irish father in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This was the time when norms and rules were falling rapidly by the wayside. Yet McCormick talks about a Catholic world that seems more like the forties and fifties or earlier. Hers is a world of Satan harassment, holy water cures, saints curing, and bishops and priests scaring people and children to death. There are the nuns promising hell for the sin of pride. Not to mention the plenitude of sexual sins that clergy and religious know you are guilty of. It is also a time of Irish and Italians marrying outside their clan and to each other. Something that was once unthinkable.. At any rate this is a religious talk dominated book with superstition and nuns galore. With parents, religious, clergy and relatives doing their best to screw up a child’s mind.
Those of us who have grown up Irish or Italian Catholic are familiar with all the phobia and non -truths that abound. In Bride’s case she has an all-in-one with a cantankerous father and self pitying mother who was taught that enduring a husband’s abuse goes with the territory. The same with her mother’s sisters who are taught by her Italian Nana to stay with their abusive husbands because that is the right thing to do. With such a glorious upbringing Bridget finds God in her daddy’s glow in the dark slippers and Satan all over her room at night. Which mom assures her will go away with an abundance of holy water and statues of Mary. Finally, Bridget’s mother calls out the whole brigade: All three persons of the Trinity, Mary and her daughter’s guardian angel. It seems to help for the short term at least.
The way the nuns laid guilt trips on Bridie one wonders how she ever made it to be a college professor. She even wonders how she got this power to harm Jesus and children in Africa. “Do you realize that children in Africa will be more hungry today than they were yesterday? All because of you, Bridget!” Sister Louise hollers. “Yes,” I lie. I knew that being eight years old would be terrible after what happened to my parents at that age— my mother almost dying of scarlet fever and my father’s mother dying of TB. Now I’m time-traveling to hurt Jesus and African children. I hate being eight.” I’ll say. No wonder some children stop attending the Eucharist once they graduate 8th grade. Sister Louise gives Bridget no credit for her superior math skills as she condemns her for her vanity in doing so well. I guess we should not get on the type of nuns Bridget grew up with so much since we do live in a world where the quack Donald Trump is able to get so many to support him.
Bridget has a lot to say about how unfair God was to punish women with painful deliveries when Adam ate the apple too. And why did God have to make Eve from Adam and making her second rate from the beginning? Why is Eve blamed so much when Adam ate the apple too?
Growing up in a public school I always marvelled at my Catholic school friends who talked so irreverently about religious people and subjects. Jokes about Gabriel’s horn and such that I would not dare to say. Same with Dodging Satan where Bridget and her friend believe that God the Father was jealous of Adam and wanting Eve for himself. I will still refrain from quoting the graphic rendering of a prayer which Bridget friend’s Agnes declares is a direct proof that God the Father wanted Eve for himself. Not only that but Agnes refers to God as “God the F.” There is no curse word intended but the connotation startles. Perhaps I am more naive than most. But I never saw God the Father described or named that way. “Agnes is right about Adam and Eve and that vengeful God-the-F who still punishes women today for marrying men who aren’t Him.”
There you have it. God, according to Agnes, is at the center of all these triangles. “...how incredibly on-target Agnes was for seeing how central Eve is to everything and how God-the-F repeatedly creates love triangles. I mean, first it’s Eve, Adam, and Him. Then it’s God-the-F, Gabriel, and Mary. Or God-the-F, Joseph, and Mary. And finally and forever, it’s every married woman, her husband, and Him.” Maybe this is what Andrew Greeley meant when he talked about the great Catholic imagination. I am sure there are more stories that so many of us missed who did not go to Catholic schools.
Dodging Satan is a book that starts slowly and takes a while to get into. But as I persevered I did not want it to end. Bridget does seem to get preachy at the end. Yet her thoughts may ring true to many Catholic women who feel that Mary is not given the true justice as they are not. This novel also is an indication of, whether few or many, how children of Catholic schools are taught a superficial faith or one that is filled with don’ts and superstitions. It is an interesting look into one girl’s life.
July 18, 2016
Don’t judge this book by its cover. This delightfully quick read reminds us all how literal children can be and how little they know when to ask the right questions. Young Bridget is baffled that all her religious interpretations are lost on the very adults teaching her. Otherwise they would understand how much she is standing firm on the concepts all the bible stories have clarified for her. But rather than being praised for her self-perceived astuteness, she is often mocked, admonished or otherwise shunned for her newly formed wisdom. She never lets that stop her, just keeps paying attention and looking for enlightenment. Bridey had me laughing and remembering my own misconceptions and inability to bring to light all the scary things of the dark. The book was over much sooner than I wanted to let go of knowing more about this lovely little girl growing up in the domain of wonder and unknowable. I’d love to know where her undying faith and unbridled spirit would take her next.
An advanced copy of this book was provided for an honest review.
An advanced copy of this book was provided for an honest review.
August 12, 2019
Written by author Kathleen McCormick, this book is a fascinating look at Catholicism, religion, and what happens when things are taken too far. The book plays with good and evil in a truly unique and interesting way as the main character of the book struggles with how to take in all the information she is being given. This book also delves into brainwashing, domestic violence, emerging sexuality, familial divide, culture, and the supernatural. I thought that this story did a great job of balancing the plot and characters intrigue and journey with the deeper exploration of themes. This book takes the reader on an incredible journey of the mind. It is inside the characters head where we see just how much the clash of family and faith have disrupted her reality. I found this book to be a fascinating read and interesting take on religion when it is taken too far and without its true morals. This book is wonderfully written; full of creative imagery, in-depth characters, and a story that will hold you captivated from the beginning until the very end. I was astonished by just how much I enjoyed reading this book. I was very impressed with this author and hope to see more from her in the future.
December 2, 2016
If you are looking for something a little different to read, Dodging Satan by Kathleen McCormick is a great choice. While I didn't have the experience of attending a Catholic school, I could easily relate to this book, having been raised as a Catholic. I absolutely loved Bridget's character. She is completely relatable, and is trying to discover herself. Meshed between the two cultures of Irish and Italian, this is a fun read. Bridget just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere in her crazy family or anywhere else for that matter. There are a lot of funny moments, some really are a reach, but funny regardless. The scenes with the Aunts are especially hysterical. In this book you will see Bridget try to figure out just who she is in society and who she actually wants to be. An entertaining, light read, that follows the foibles of the main character with much social commentary, Dodging Satan is a quick read that will leave you wanting more in the way of laughs and frivolity. Recommended to any young girl trying to figure out her place in the world.
January 26, 2017
Dodging Satan is a refreshing and delightful perspective of a young catholic girl growing up with only enough knowledge about God that she haunts herself. Her overactive imagination distresses her parents when they just can’t quite understand her reasoning.
Kathleen McCormick is such an enchanting storyteller, reading this book makes you want to hear her tell the stories in person just to see her facial expressions. I loved reading about her family ties, even the ones that are bizarre. I have to laugh at the drama from an Irish/Italian family. Both have a heritage known for excessive temperaments, and strong beliefs.
My favorite story about her childhood would have to be when she thought God really lived in her crucifix because it glowed in the dark. She was really baffled when her father received slippers that glowed in the dark also. Why would God want to be with stinky feet?
Kathleen McCormick is such an enchanting storyteller, reading this book makes you want to hear her tell the stories in person just to see her facial expressions. I loved reading about her family ties, even the ones that are bizarre. I have to laugh at the drama from an Irish/Italian family. Both have a heritage known for excessive temperaments, and strong beliefs.
My favorite story about her childhood would have to be when she thought God really lived in her crucifix because it glowed in the dark. She was really baffled when her father received slippers that glowed in the dark also. Why would God want to be with stinky feet?
July 30, 2019
Laugh-out-loud, and challenging the Irish Catholic system in both a theological and an entirely comedic way. This mash-up of style works particularly well, and I found it's tone to be refreshing. It's told from a child's perspective, Bridget, who is finding ways to deal with her strict upbringing. Echoing the socio-politics of the time, the subject of Catholicism and religion in the 60's and 70's, McCormick brings a gritty realism to her story, as she does a great job at animating recollections of a child growing up with her mad-cap household. Although to be expected, some of the topics covered were serious, and rather sad, it is the writers light-hearted and quirky manner which kept me enthralled throughout.
August 5, 2019
Don't let the title fool you, 'Dodging Satan' is seriously funny, Catholicism has never been as hilarious as when seen through the eyes of teenager Bridget, experiencing her formative years in a home full of strict Irish/Italian Catholics.
Trying to figure out your own path when growing up is hard enough without being preached to on a daily basis by a family that doesn't exactly hold the moral high ground. As a result a stressed out Bridget starts experiencing nightmares she thinks have been sent by the Satan himself and let's just say, telling her family about them probably wasn't the best idea.
Funny, troubling, creepy, and entertaining 'Dodging Satan' is a coming of age tale with a difference and made me thankful of my atheist upbringing.
Trying to figure out your own path when growing up is hard enough without being preached to on a daily basis by a family that doesn't exactly hold the moral high ground. As a result a stressed out Bridget starts experiencing nightmares she thinks have been sent by the Satan himself and let's just say, telling her family about them probably wasn't the best idea.
Funny, troubling, creepy, and entertaining 'Dodging Satan' is a coming of age tale with a difference and made me thankful of my atheist upbringing.
September 18, 2016
This is, hands down, one of the most unique stories I've read, and trust me, I've read quite a lot of them. Even more so, it served as a good "introduction" to certain hardcore Catholic beliefs and traditions for me.
Bridget is a girl who is forced to live a very strict life and follow some (harsh) rules, but at the same time, she cannot resist Satan's calling forever. The book is centered around this plot, and that's more than enough for us, readers, to witness lots of humorous moments, but there's also the occasional cringe. As time passes, Bridget's perspective on the world around her starts changing and she begins questioning the "truths" she has held sacred for so long.
If you're in the mood for a story where there's lots of talk about God, religion, and the things a true Catholic must not do, then give yourself a treat and read Dodging Satan. You'll love it!
Bridget is a girl who is forced to live a very strict life and follow some (harsh) rules, but at the same time, she cannot resist Satan's calling forever. The book is centered around this plot, and that's more than enough for us, readers, to witness lots of humorous moments, but there's also the occasional cringe. As time passes, Bridget's perspective on the world around her starts changing and she begins questioning the "truths" she has held sacred for so long.
If you're in the mood for a story where there's lots of talk about God, religion, and the things a true Catholic must not do, then give yourself a treat and read Dodging Satan. You'll love it!
July 30, 2016
This is a laugh out loud book of absolute brilliance. From her getting her first (glow in the dark) crucifix to her dad's glow in the dark slippers, she gets a little perturbed at God at first. The book continues on and on. I don't want to be the one to give it all away.
My first most favorite antidote was when she and her mom went into this little room to get fresh (not germy) holy water out of a 3-gallon coffee holder. When the water wouldn't come out, her mom tears off the lid and needs a peppermint. That settles her stomach. Apparently, she saw contaminated holy water. She looks in and sees the Holy, and thinks both she and her mom are special for the honor. When you find out what the Holy is, you will howl! This is just like most of the book. It is that good!
Thank you to Kathleen Zamboni McCormick and Word Slinger for giving me this book for free in order to read and give my honest review.
My first most favorite antidote was when she and her mom went into this little room to get fresh (not germy) holy water out of a 3-gallon coffee holder. When the water wouldn't come out, her mom tears off the lid and needs a peppermint. That settles her stomach. Apparently, she saw contaminated holy water. She looks in and sees the Holy, and thinks both she and her mom are special for the honor. When you find out what the Holy is, you will howl! This is just like most of the book. It is that good!
Thank you to Kathleen Zamboni McCormick and Word Slinger for giving me this book for free in order to read and give my honest review.
November 27, 2017
This novel proves that a Jewish girl can - indeed - find a book about a Catholic girl to be both hilarious and poignant. For me, Kathleen Zamboni Mccormick's novel, Dodging Satan, provided a surprising introduction to traditional Catholic family dynamics, values and beliefs. Even if I were not interested in the culture, I would still relate closely to the main character. McCormick did a masterful job of creating an authentic child’s voice, which managed to mature from six to sixteen and still be the same person throughout - not an easy task! As she grew older, her experiences made me remember my own “good” little girl self - the misunderstandings and misperceptions, the urgency of beliefs, and the gradual disillusionments and clashes with adults. Loved the crescendo to the ending (no spoilers here!). Any daughter – or wife and mother, husband and father, for that matter – would laugh through this book, pausing frequently to sigh, groan, and remember.
July 16, 2019
Dodging Satan by Kathleen McCormick
Starts out with praise for the book, table of contents and then the story begins.
Story of a girl growing up Catholic and she's got roots from Italy and Ireland. I remember the cards she spoke of as I also collected them when given to me from the nuns that were teaching us from K through grade 7.
The girl grows up thinking Satan is under her bed and she gets her mom to sprinkle things around to scare them off.
She really has a philosophic opinions about the virgin Mother of Jesus and the nuns don't like how she portrays her. I myself thought she's really obsessed about her, her clothing, her paintings done elsewhere and how she'd never be able to spank Jesus.
Some of the scenes I found funny and some remind me of things that either we did as kids or the cousins did.
Acknowledgments and why the author wrote the book.
I received this review copy from the author via the publisher and this is my honest opinion.
Starts out with praise for the book, table of contents and then the story begins.
Story of a girl growing up Catholic and she's got roots from Italy and Ireland. I remember the cards she spoke of as I also collected them when given to me from the nuns that were teaching us from K through grade 7.
The girl grows up thinking Satan is under her bed and she gets her mom to sprinkle things around to scare them off.
She really has a philosophic opinions about the virgin Mother of Jesus and the nuns don't like how she portrays her. I myself thought she's really obsessed about her, her clothing, her paintings done elsewhere and how she'd never be able to spank Jesus.
Some of the scenes I found funny and some remind me of things that either we did as kids or the cousins did.
Acknowledgments and why the author wrote the book.
I received this review copy from the author via the publisher and this is my honest opinion.
March 22, 2016
The best way I can describe Dodging Satan without go9ng into chapter and verse is as humorous and compelling. There’s an incredibly sharp and intuitive mind behind the pen that delivers a read that’s above all original whilst the theme is cleverly nuanced to ensure the widest possible appeal. I thoroughly enjoyed it and had no hesitation in giving it 5 stars.
March 3, 2016
The voice relating the childhood and early adolescence of Bridget Flagherty chimes with humor and poignancy. Negotiating landmines like drunken family members, violent ethnic strife (Italian versus Irish), and the nuns' expectations at school, little Bridget remains implacable and ever humorous. Charming and perceptive, she sees beyond the interfamilial drama that both amuses and terrifies her. Her innocent thoughts and questions about Catholicism dive deep at the heart of this religion that pervades her every hour. We root for her as she matures, hoping she'll make a way for herself in the world. When she does, we find satisfaction in knowing she will draw on her youth--textured with warm affection and fraught anguish--to forge a life of resilience, ironic distance, and warmth towards the relatives who helped mold her strong sense of self.
September 16, 2016
Dodging Satan: by Kathleen McCormick, is a somewhat quirky tale of a young woman's childhood. The writers words are engaging, allowing you to be transported back to the formative years of her life. From the nuns that did not appreciate her uncles war stories, to her mothers stories of surviving scarlet fever. Imaging entering church, and pretending to make the sign of the cross with dry fingers, and staying awake at night because you imagine serpents of satan snaking their way out from under the statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary because they are imitation pieces. Honestly the way her mind worked as a child was utterly fascinating to me. As a former psychology student, I could say that Freud would have had a field day with some of this woman's imaginings.
December 8, 2015
How does Bridget Flagherty, a budding feminist, reconcile herself to the Marine Corps of religion? An ultra-macho creed in which God the F. reigns supreme and women are relegated to second class citizenry from birth? Perhaps with a little help from the Virgin Mary, whom Bridget believes is the most misunderstood woman in the Bible. Nietzsche's quote, "I can't believe in a God who wants to be worshiped all the time," resonates in this coming-of-age novel by Kathleen McCormick. Five stars.
James Hanna
James Hanna
December 13, 2019
I found Dodging Satan by Kathleen to be an excellent read. It had me laughing out loud for a good part of the novel, The greatest thing about the way this book has been written is that Kathleen has written it from a child’s point of view. Being raised in a catholic household myself I could easily relate throughout. This book brings humour and sadness but overall is a great read. Dodging Satan will take you to another world and learn you about different religions and cultures, you wont be able to stop reading once you start! Well done Kathleen.
October 14, 2017
There is nothing more aggravating than the Catholic religion. I apologize to Catholics. Just my opinion. But how horrible that children are taught to be like the Virgin Mary (girls anyway and it should be "to be like Jesus") but they would have been disowned if any girls actually found themselves to be like the Virgin Mary. Hypocrite?
July 29, 2019
Let me just say that this could be one of the funniest books I have ever read! Kathleen Zamoboni McCormick has a real gift for writing comedy, and 'Dodging Satan' is going to have Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, and even atheists like me, rolling on the floor laughing.
I wasn't brought up in a religious household, but I can imagine many women that were will really relate to the hilarious musings of young Bridget Flagherty. As part of an Irish/Italian Catholic family that has a number of nefarious secrets, she is rather confused. When she starts having nightmares that she assumes have been sent by the Devil, the various influential Catholics in her life all have different opinions. Of course, this makes Bridget even more comically confused
Although upsetting and sad in parts, this coming-of-age story is full of heart and is bursting with humour. I'm not surprised it is an award winner, it has completely changed my view on religious fiction. Exceptional!
I wasn't brought up in a religious household, but I can imagine many women that were will really relate to the hilarious musings of young Bridget Flagherty. As part of an Irish/Italian Catholic family that has a number of nefarious secrets, she is rather confused. When she starts having nightmares that she assumes have been sent by the Devil, the various influential Catholics in her life all have different opinions. Of course, this makes Bridget even more comically confused
Although upsetting and sad in parts, this coming-of-age story is full of heart and is bursting with humour. I'm not surprised it is an award winner, it has completely changed my view on religious fiction. Exceptional!
August 14, 2019
[English review + Reseña en español]
Dodging Satan: My Irish / Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood, by Kathleen Zamboni McCormick. Published by Sand Hill Review Press. 2015. 191 pages. Genre: Humorous fiction / Autobiographical fiction / Spirituality
Bridgette (Bridgie) is a naive 7-year-old girl of Italian-Irish descent, born into a very Catholic American family (and also very chaotic, words that sometimes seemed to be directly related). She is excited because she will soon make her first holy communion, but evil Satan harasses her, and Bridgette feels guilty for the terrible things that happen to Jesus and the children of Africa every time she sins. From her particular childish logic, Bridgette tries to understand how she, the multitude of people around her, her creed, her concerns, sexuality and God herself, fit in a world whose rules seem to involve a secret code that adults seem to follow very closely but never understanding it at all.
The book narrates, with a good dose of humor, little more than five years in the life of an innocent girl who, little by little, has to find her own spiritual path in a macho, dishonest and incomprehensive world which tries to bury her joy and spontaneity under the weight of fear, guilt, silence, abandonment and renunciation. Among Greek myths, the lives of the holy virgins, patriotic males and warriors, coordinated clothes, a ruined Christmas and delicious artichoke hearts, Bridgette manages to grow as a person and as a woman, reinterpreting things in a modern, feminist, critical and unorthodox way; which is much more useful, positive and free than most of his large family’s.
Dodging Satan turned out to be an agile, spontaneous, very funny and quite bold book. The Catholic background might seem, in a first approach, a limitation that would lead readers from other creeds (or from no creed at all) to refrain from reading this book, but the book is not doctrinal at all; on the contrary, I find that its critical, humorous and innocent character is fresh, natural, free, sincere and even universal.
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Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood, por Kathleen Zamboni McCormick. Publicada por Sand Hill Review Press. 2015. 191 páginas. Género: Ficción humorística / Ficción autobiográfica / Espiritualidad
Bridgette (Bridgie) es una ingenua niña de 7 años de ascendencia italiana-irlandesa, nacida en el seno de una familia americana muy católica (y muy caótica también, palabras que a veces parecieran estar directamente emparentadas). Ella está ilusionada porque pronto hará su primera comunión, pero el malvado Satán la acosa y Bridgette se siente culpable por las cosas terribles que le ocurren a Jesús y a los niños de África cada vez que ella peca. Desde su particular lógica infantil, Bridgette trata de comprender cómo encajan ella, la multitud de personas que la rodean, su credo, sus inquietudes, la sexualidad y el mismísimo Dios, en un mundo cuyas reglas parecen entrañar un código secreto que los adultos parecen seguir a pies juntillas sin entenderlo del todo.
El libro narra, con una buena dosis de humor, poco más de un lustro en la vida de una niña inocente que poco a poco ha de encontrar su propio camino espiritual en un mundo machista, deshonesto e incomprensivo, que trata de sepultar su alegría y su espontaneidad bajo el peso del temor, la culpa, el silencio, el abandono y la renuncia. Entre mitos griegos, vidas de santas vírgenes, machos patriotas y guerreros, ropa coordinada, navidades arruinadas y deliciosos corazones de alcachofa, Bridgette logra crecer como persona y como mujer, reinterpretando las cosas de un modo moderno, feminista, crítico y poco ortodoxo; mucho más útil, positivo y libre que el de la mayor parte de su cuantiosa parentela.
Dodging Satan resultó ser un libro ágil, espontáneo, muy divertido y bastante propositivo. El trasfondo católico pudiera parecer, en un primer acercamiento, una limitante que llevaría a lectores provenientes de otros credos (o de ningún credo en absoluto) a abstenerse de leer este libro, pero el libro no es para nada doctrinal; muy por el contrario, encuentro que su carácter crítico, humorista e inocente resulta fresco, natural, libre, sincero e incluso universal.
Dodging Satan: My Irish / Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood, by Kathleen Zamboni McCormick. Published by Sand Hill Review Press. 2015. 191 pages. Genre: Humorous fiction / Autobiographical fiction / Spirituality
Bridgette (Bridgie) is a naive 7-year-old girl of Italian-Irish descent, born into a very Catholic American family (and also very chaotic, words that sometimes seemed to be directly related). She is excited because she will soon make her first holy communion, but evil Satan harasses her, and Bridgette feels guilty for the terrible things that happen to Jesus and the children of Africa every time she sins. From her particular childish logic, Bridgette tries to understand how she, the multitude of people around her, her creed, her concerns, sexuality and God herself, fit in a world whose rules seem to involve a secret code that adults seem to follow very closely but never understanding it at all.
The book narrates, with a good dose of humor, little more than five years in the life of an innocent girl who, little by little, has to find her own spiritual path in a macho, dishonest and incomprehensive world which tries to bury her joy and spontaneity under the weight of fear, guilt, silence, abandonment and renunciation. Among Greek myths, the lives of the holy virgins, patriotic males and warriors, coordinated clothes, a ruined Christmas and delicious artichoke hearts, Bridgette manages to grow as a person and as a woman, reinterpreting things in a modern, feminist, critical and unorthodox way; which is much more useful, positive and free than most of his large family’s.
Dodging Satan turned out to be an agile, spontaneous, very funny and quite bold book. The Catholic background might seem, in a first approach, a limitation that would lead readers from other creeds (or from no creed at all) to refrain from reading this book, but the book is not doctrinal at all; on the contrary, I find that its critical, humorous and innocent character is fresh, natural, free, sincere and even universal.
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Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian, Sometimes Awesome, But Mostly Creepy, Childhood, por Kathleen Zamboni McCormick. Publicada por Sand Hill Review Press. 2015. 191 páginas. Género: Ficción humorística / Ficción autobiográfica / Espiritualidad
Bridgette (Bridgie) es una ingenua niña de 7 años de ascendencia italiana-irlandesa, nacida en el seno de una familia americana muy católica (y muy caótica también, palabras que a veces parecieran estar directamente emparentadas). Ella está ilusionada porque pronto hará su primera comunión, pero el malvado Satán la acosa y Bridgette se siente culpable por las cosas terribles que le ocurren a Jesús y a los niños de África cada vez que ella peca. Desde su particular lógica infantil, Bridgette trata de comprender cómo encajan ella, la multitud de personas que la rodean, su credo, sus inquietudes, la sexualidad y el mismísimo Dios, en un mundo cuyas reglas parecen entrañar un código secreto que los adultos parecen seguir a pies juntillas sin entenderlo del todo.
El libro narra, con una buena dosis de humor, poco más de un lustro en la vida de una niña inocente que poco a poco ha de encontrar su propio camino espiritual en un mundo machista, deshonesto e incomprensivo, que trata de sepultar su alegría y su espontaneidad bajo el peso del temor, la culpa, el silencio, el abandono y la renuncia. Entre mitos griegos, vidas de santas vírgenes, machos patriotas y guerreros, ropa coordinada, navidades arruinadas y deliciosos corazones de alcachofa, Bridgette logra crecer como persona y como mujer, reinterpretando las cosas de un modo moderno, feminista, crítico y poco ortodoxo; mucho más útil, positivo y libre que el de la mayor parte de su cuantiosa parentela.
Dodging Satan resultó ser un libro ágil, espontáneo, muy divertido y bastante propositivo. El trasfondo católico pudiera parecer, en un primer acercamiento, una limitante que llevaría a lectores provenientes de otros credos (o de ningún credo en absoluto) a abstenerse de leer este libro, pero el libro no es para nada doctrinal; muy por el contrario, encuentro que su carácter crítico, humorista e inocente resulta fresco, natural, libre, sincero e incluso universal.
September 17, 2016
If we could open up a contest about the world’s most Catholic family, Bridget’s Italian-Irish concoction would definitely top up the rating. The clever girl is raised by the tight glove of religion from both sides of the large family, grows up to become the perfect Catholic and evade Satan’s calling who takes various shapes in her life as a child and young teenager: imaginary snakes coming out of the closet at night, her flirty and cheeky friend Lucy, and the non-avoidable puberty sex drive.
Her parents are not great fans of logic and prefer to keep up the pretense even when strong beliefs are brought into serious question, such as when they pretend to sip the Holy water that seems disgusting because everyone puts their finger in it or when her father refuses to buy her a two-wheeler only because she can fall off it and lose her virginity.
But we all know that Satan can not be easily dodged as he is the other face of God, which becomes increasingly clear for Bridget as time goes by. You couldn’t feel anything less than sympathy for the awesome Bridey, as her mother calls her, who asks some damn good questions about the ridiculousness of Bible passages when reality strikes - two dead family members in Vietnam although they had their crosses on the chest and wives that get beaten but stay in marriage only because they need to play the role of a good Christian wife.
This is a wonderful story of humor but also sadness and harsh truths. I am very happy that, in the end, Bridget decides to stay friends with Satan who, compared to God she has met, might not be so bad after all! This is a story of how not to raise a Catholic!
Her parents are not great fans of logic and prefer to keep up the pretense even when strong beliefs are brought into serious question, such as when they pretend to sip the Holy water that seems disgusting because everyone puts their finger in it or when her father refuses to buy her a two-wheeler only because she can fall off it and lose her virginity.
But we all know that Satan can not be easily dodged as he is the other face of God, which becomes increasingly clear for Bridget as time goes by. You couldn’t feel anything less than sympathy for the awesome Bridey, as her mother calls her, who asks some damn good questions about the ridiculousness of Bible passages when reality strikes - two dead family members in Vietnam although they had their crosses on the chest and wives that get beaten but stay in marriage only because they need to play the role of a good Christian wife.
This is a wonderful story of humor but also sadness and harsh truths. I am very happy that, in the end, Bridget decides to stay friends with Satan who, compared to God she has met, might not be so bad after all! This is a story of how not to raise a Catholic!
November 29, 2016
Read by my partner, this was a very entertaining read. From the first anecdote about Bridget to the end of the book - it was a gas. This book is cleverly written, finding the humor in the often dry and stale topic of religion. Rather than seeming sacrilegious, McCormick's analyzation of the Catholic faith is deeply personal and emotional. Her novel explores the influence the Catholic faith has on the adolescent Bridget during a time of life where her sexuality is emerging and conflicts arise between her desires and familial expectations. The whole book is laced with such an intoxicating humor that it's sure to be an enjoyable read even to those unfamiliar with the Catholic faith. And those who come from a similar background as Bridget will likely laugh even harder as the relatability of her thoughts will remind them of their own teenage years. Overall, very great book! A strongly reommended book.
July 10, 2017
Imaginative, quirky and joyful. Definitely a good read.
Kathleen McCormick's DODGING SATAN took me by surprise. Bridget Flaherty lives in a war zone, with vying Irish and Italian takes on faith and parenting. Bridget's response is to interpret life's mysteries in terms of her own skewed perspectives. Hilarious and heartbreaking — this book celebrates a unique girl growing into her strengths.
Kathleen McCormick's DODGING SATAN took me by surprise. Bridget Flaherty lives in a war zone, with vying Irish and Italian takes on faith and parenting. Bridget's response is to interpret life's mysteries in terms of her own skewed perspectives. Hilarious and heartbreaking — this book celebrates a unique girl growing into her strengths.
June 27, 2019
Dodging Satan is an excellently written story about a girl trying to figure out her religion and her families values as she grows up. Kathleen McCormick does a great job of describing her feelings and the things she saw. This story has a great flow and is very descriptive so that you can feel what everyone feels that is in the room with Kathleen. You learn how she got to where she is today and who supported her and who turned away from her. Dodging Satan is a great book that will transport you to another world about different religion and cultures and you just won’t be able to put it down.
February 23, 2018
Captivating and entertaining, Dodging Satan is a window into Catholic life in the 1950s and 1960s. I loved that it was set in Boston. A fun read!
July 2, 2019
‘A is for angels (and Alleluia). B is for bombs. C is for crucifix. D is for dead.’
New York author Kathleen Zamboni McCormick grew up in Cambridge, MA, in a tense Irish/Italian Catholic family whose contradictions were both hilarious (in retrospect) and frightening and form the nidus for her debut novel, ‘Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian Sometimes Awesome But Mostly Creepy Childhood.‘ She has authored and coauthored books on reading and teaching world literature. Her educational background is both Boston College and the University of Connecticut and she now is a professor of Literature at SUNY Purchase, and has won national awards for her academic work--about innovative ways to teach writing and (no surprise!) Irish and Italian literature. In addition to her writing and teaching, she finds pleasure in arts & crafts, sewing, knitting, crewel work, and embroidery, claiming that ‘if I weren't a writer and an academic, I'd have become a weaver. The pleasure I take in fabrics is something that certainly comes through in Dodging Satan. The weaver in me I hope is also evident in the ways in which I write digressively and then work every detail back into the main fabric of the story.’
Kathleen has that style of writing that is both hilarious and poignant simultaneously. How? By creating a fictional novel that closely parallels her childhood experiences and while being a coming of age story it goes beyond just that as a dissection of Catholicism and its influences on children and adults who act like children! Read simple the titles to the chapters of her book offers a fine glance at the jewels within, but getting a taste of the manner in which she places words on the page is a better introduction to her gifts. She opens ‘Why is God in daddy’s slippers?’ with ‘The Italian and Irish sides of our family can argue about almost anything— the thickness of porridge, how much people can drink before they’re officially alcoholics, and which side acts more like “bloody foreigners.” But they all agree on the sacredness of the crucifix. An uncle on each side survived an attack in WWII that killed the rest of their platoons— all because they were wearing their crucifixes. I volunteer to tell the story of the miracle of my uncles’ salvation to my second grade class. The bombs were bursting in air. My uncles, years before my birth, were staring at the rockets’ red glare. The rockets were about to come down on them when they touched their crosses around their necks, and God touched them back. A heavenly host of angels singing alleluia held up American flags against our enemies who didn’t believe in God. And all of this to save my two uncles, Johnny Flaherty and Tony Alonzo. God is Italian. Or Irish. Either way, He was on our side. That’s why we won.’ And it just gets better!
The synopsis provides a map of the tale: ‘Bridget Flagherty, a student at St. Michael’s Catholic school outside Boston in the 60s and 70s, takes refuge in her wacky misunderstandings of Bible Stories and Catholic beliefs to avoid the problems of her Irish/Italian family life. Her musings on sadistic nuns, domestic violence, emerging sexuality, and God the Father’s romantic life will delight readers. Bridget creates glorious supernatural worlds—with exorcisms, bird relics, Virgin Martyrs, time travel, Biblical plagues, even the ‘holy’ in holy water—to cope with a family where leather handbags and even garlic can cause explosions. An avid Bible reader who innocently believes everything the nuns tell her, Bridget’s saints, martyrs, and boney Christs become alive and audible within her. While the nuns chide her sinful ‘mathematical pride’ and slow eating habits, God answers her prayers instantly by day, but the devil visits nightly in the dark. Scenes run the gamut from laugh-out-loud Catholic brainwashing of children, to heart-wrenching abuse, to riveting teenage excursions toward sex. Young Bridget tries to make sense of a world of raging men and domestically subjugated women and carve a future for herself, wrestling with how God and men treat women. Her Italian female relatives—glamorous Santa Anna, black-and-blue Aunt Maria, sophisticated Eleanor with a New York ‘Fellini pageboy’—offer sensual alternatives to the repression of her immediate family. She prays fervently that “despite God’s bizarre treatment of married women... some [girls] might still discover ways to have a great time without being a nun.”
Kathleen Zamboni McCormick, welcome to the arena of the finest in contemporary comedic writing. Her future is assured.
New York author Kathleen Zamboni McCormick grew up in Cambridge, MA, in a tense Irish/Italian Catholic family whose contradictions were both hilarious (in retrospect) and frightening and form the nidus for her debut novel, ‘Dodging Satan: My Irish/Italian Sometimes Awesome But Mostly Creepy Childhood.‘ She has authored and coauthored books on reading and teaching world literature. Her educational background is both Boston College and the University of Connecticut and she now is a professor of Literature at SUNY Purchase, and has won national awards for her academic work--about innovative ways to teach writing and (no surprise!) Irish and Italian literature. In addition to her writing and teaching, she finds pleasure in arts & crafts, sewing, knitting, crewel work, and embroidery, claiming that ‘if I weren't a writer and an academic, I'd have become a weaver. The pleasure I take in fabrics is something that certainly comes through in Dodging Satan. The weaver in me I hope is also evident in the ways in which I write digressively and then work every detail back into the main fabric of the story.’
Kathleen has that style of writing that is both hilarious and poignant simultaneously. How? By creating a fictional novel that closely parallels her childhood experiences and while being a coming of age story it goes beyond just that as a dissection of Catholicism and its influences on children and adults who act like children! Read simple the titles to the chapters of her book offers a fine glance at the jewels within, but getting a taste of the manner in which she places words on the page is a better introduction to her gifts. She opens ‘Why is God in daddy’s slippers?’ with ‘The Italian and Irish sides of our family can argue about almost anything— the thickness of porridge, how much people can drink before they’re officially alcoholics, and which side acts more like “bloody foreigners.” But they all agree on the sacredness of the crucifix. An uncle on each side survived an attack in WWII that killed the rest of their platoons— all because they were wearing their crucifixes. I volunteer to tell the story of the miracle of my uncles’ salvation to my second grade class. The bombs were bursting in air. My uncles, years before my birth, were staring at the rockets’ red glare. The rockets were about to come down on them when they touched their crosses around their necks, and God touched them back. A heavenly host of angels singing alleluia held up American flags against our enemies who didn’t believe in God. And all of this to save my two uncles, Johnny Flaherty and Tony Alonzo. God is Italian. Or Irish. Either way, He was on our side. That’s why we won.’ And it just gets better!
The synopsis provides a map of the tale: ‘Bridget Flagherty, a student at St. Michael’s Catholic school outside Boston in the 60s and 70s, takes refuge in her wacky misunderstandings of Bible Stories and Catholic beliefs to avoid the problems of her Irish/Italian family life. Her musings on sadistic nuns, domestic violence, emerging sexuality, and God the Father’s romantic life will delight readers. Bridget creates glorious supernatural worlds—with exorcisms, bird relics, Virgin Martyrs, time travel, Biblical plagues, even the ‘holy’ in holy water—to cope with a family where leather handbags and even garlic can cause explosions. An avid Bible reader who innocently believes everything the nuns tell her, Bridget’s saints, martyrs, and boney Christs become alive and audible within her. While the nuns chide her sinful ‘mathematical pride’ and slow eating habits, God answers her prayers instantly by day, but the devil visits nightly in the dark. Scenes run the gamut from laugh-out-loud Catholic brainwashing of children, to heart-wrenching abuse, to riveting teenage excursions toward sex. Young Bridget tries to make sense of a world of raging men and domestically subjugated women and carve a future for herself, wrestling with how God and men treat women. Her Italian female relatives—glamorous Santa Anna, black-and-blue Aunt Maria, sophisticated Eleanor with a New York ‘Fellini pageboy’—offer sensual alternatives to the repression of her immediate family. She prays fervently that “despite God’s bizarre treatment of married women... some [girls] might still discover ways to have a great time without being a nun.”
Kathleen Zamboni McCormick, welcome to the arena of the finest in contemporary comedic writing. Her future is assured.
May 10, 2021
I’m left a little confused. Some of the imaginative paths McCormick takes you on are a bit wild, don’t really get to a point as such. I was laughing out loud at the story of Bridey trying to exorcise her school friend for wearing lipstick 😂
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